Systems and methods of component voltage adjustment

• US 9,395,787 B2
• Filed: 02/21/2008
• Issued: 07/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SK Hynix Inc.
• Original Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Inventors: Cepulis, Darren J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo, Tim T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Huynh, Kim T.
• Application Number:
  US12/918,388
• Publication Number:
  US 20110078466A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,071 Days
• Field of Search: 713300-340, 710/107
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3296 by lowering the supply or operating voltage
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Systems and methods for adjusting component voltage are disclosed. One example method includes: reading, over a control bus, a present value of voltage supplied to a component; comparing the present value of the voltage component to a predetermined minimum voltage associated with the component; and writing, over the control bus, a current setting that affects voltage provided to the component, wherein the writing is responsive to the comparison.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

reading, over a control bus, a present value of voltage supplied to a component;

comparing the present value of the voltage to a predetermined minimum voltage associated with the component; and

writing, over the control bus, a setting that affects voltage provided to the component, wherein the writing is responsive to the comparing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein writing the setting comprises writing the setting to an adjustable digital-to-analog converter.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein reading the present value of voltage comprises reading from an analog-to-digital converter.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is executed by a processor during a power-on-self-test.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the reading, comparing and writing are executed repeatedly by a system management interrupt handler executing on a processor.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the reading, comparing and writing are executed repeatedly by a baseboard management controller.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the reading comprises a voltage adjustment logic reading the present value of voltage over the control bus from an adjustable voltage supply module, and wherein the writing comprises the voltage adjustment logic writing the setting over the control bus to the adjustable voltage supply module.

7. A method comprising:

selecting a component from a plurality of components;

determining a minimum voltage value associated with the selected component;

obtaining a present value of voltage supplied to the selected component;

comparing the present value of the voltage for the selected component to the minimum voltage; and

responsive to the comparing, adjusting voltage that is provided to the selected component.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the determining comprises reading the minimum voltage value associated with the selected component from a table.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the obtaining comprises reading the present value of voltage supplied to the selected component from an analog-to-digital converter.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the adjusting comprises setting a current which affects the voltage that is provided to the selected component.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising reading a current value associated with the selected component from a table, wherein the setting of the current comprises writing the current value to an adjustable voltage supply module that provides voltage to the selected component.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising reading a current value associated with the selected component from a table, wherein the setting of the current comprises writing the current value to a digital-to-analog converter.

21. The method of claim 7, wherein the obtaining comprises a voltage adjustment logic reading the present value of voltage over a control bus from an adjustable voltage supply module, and wherein the adjusting comprises the voltage adjustment logic writing a setting over the control bus to the adjustable voltage supply module to adjust the voltage that is provided by the adjustable voltage supply module to the selected component.

13. An apparatus comprising:

non-volatile storage containing a plurality of values associated with an adjustable voltage supply module, one of the values comprising a minimum voltage;

memory storing program code; and

a processor programmed by the program code to;

read a value of voltage that is currently provided to a component by the adjustable voltage supply module;

compare the value of the voltage to the minimum voltage value associated with the adjustable voltage supply module; and

responsive to the comparison, adjust voltage that is provided by the adjustable voltage supply module to the component.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the plurality of values further comprise module address information, and wherein the processor is further programmed to use the module address information to read the value of voltage over a control bus.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is further programmed to adjust the voltage by setting an adjustable current that affects the voltage provided by the adjustable voltage supply module to the component.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is further programmed to adjust the voltage by writing over a control bus to the adjustable voltage supply module.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the plurality of values further comprise module address information, and wherein the processor is further programmed to adjust the voltage by writing over a control bus, using the module address information.

18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the plurality of values further comprise a current setting, and wherein the processor is further programmed to set a current within the adjustable voltage supply module in accordance with the current setting, to affect the voltage provided by the adjustable voltage supply module to the component.

19. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the plurality of values further comprise current stepping values, and wherein the processor is further programmed to select one of the current stepping values based on the comparison and to set a current within the adjustable voltage supply module in accordance with the selected stepping value, to affect the voltage provided by the adjustable voltage supply module to the component.

22. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is to read the value of voltage from the adjustable voltage supply module over a control bus.